Trust and Gratitude
by Keirou
Summary: Set a few hours after the events in I Will Always Catch You. Spirit wakes up in Stein's lab, and the two have a chat.


Darkness. That was all Spirit remembered after Stein's silent thanks. He'd blacked out not halfway to...wherever it was they were going. It was hard to think. A vague ache in his chest began to register, drawing him out of the black void and further into consciousness. It was a little hard to breathe, the pain spiking dully with every inhale. Nearby there was a clicking sound, at once regular yet erratic. Slowly he opened his eyes, vision clearing to make out the ceiling above him. It was plain for the most part, though marked with scattered lines of stitch-marks as though someone had attempted to perform surgery on the very building. Spirit blinked up at it hazily, his brain slowly putting other pieces together. He was lying on something, and his shirt, at least, was missing. And his chest hurt. And the ceiling above him had stitch-marks on it.

Spirit sat up quickly, in a panic. Or at least he tried, but the pain from his chest barely let him make it off whatever it was he was lying on before he fell back with a muffled yelp.

"You shouldn't move just yet," a voice said from one side of the room. "You were...badly injured."

Spirit looked over to see Stein rising from a desk on which sat a laptop computer – the clicking noise must have been his typing – and walking over to what Spirit realized was the bed he was lying on. It had stitch-marks, too, sheets and all. That calmed him a little. "Stein..."

Stein came to a halt beside the bed, the dim light of the room hitting his glasses just right; the glare hid his eyes completely. Spirit couldn't help but notice that he must have cleaned the lenses. There was no trace of the blood he remembered seeing before. Stein wasn't wearing his usual lab coat, though...that must be in the wash. His clothes bore no sign of the night's events, either, now that Spirit took the time to look. How long had he been unconscious...?

"It's been several hours," Stein said, as if in answer to the unspoken question. "It's nearly dawn now."

"...have you been up all night?" Spirit asked as the information sank in.

Stein shrugged slightly. "I...had a lot to think about." He paused, looking down at Spirit as he reached over to grab his chair. "Besides, you were using my bed."

Spirit nodded slightly, then blinked. Stein's bed...? Now that he thought about it, of course, it was obvious. Stein really wasn't the type to have a guest room, and the couch wasn't exactly the best place to put an injured person. It still vaguely surprised him, though. "...why did you bring me here?"

"It was faster," Stein said simply, sitting down with his arms resting on the back of the chair. "I would've had to go looking for the supplies I needed at Shibusen, and I know exactly where everything is here."

"Oh..." Spirit lay in silence for a long moment. Stein had patched him up, then...it was an odd feeling. On the one hand it was weird, given their history; Spirit couldn't help but wonder just how pleased Stein had been with the chance to operate on him again. On the other, though, he was grateful. Of all the people he knew, Stein was probably the only one he'd actually trust in a situation like this...which in itself was odd. Trying to distract himself from that bout of inner conflict, he turned his attention back to his old partner. Voice quiet, he asked, "What happened, Stein?"

Stein sat in silence for an equally long moment before taking a deep breath. "...I...proved weaker than I thought." He said finally. "I allowed myself to fall victim to the madness." He glanced up, the glare on his glasses fading enough for Spirit to see the unreadable expression in his eyes. "...And in turn made you the victim."

Spirit held Stein's gaze for a moment, then looked back up at the ceiling. "...I'm just glad I went looking for you," he said quietly. "If I hadn't stopped for a visit..." He let his voice trail off. Speaking was getting harder anyway, with every breath causing a new twinge of pain.

Stein's eyes widened slightly. "You...came to visit?" he asked in mild surprise.

"Just sort of happened," Spirit said, "but when I found you gone I got worried."

Stein said nothing, looking away. The light off his glasses once again blocked his eyes from view.

Spirit looked at him for a moment, then tried to sit up again. It worked about as well as it did the last time. Frustrated, he glanced down at himself, noting that the blanket under which he was lying had moved enough for him to see his chest. There were several old scars, leftovers from when he and Stein had been partnered, but now there was a fresh, white line of bandages running from his collarbone almost to his waist covering what he could only assume was a new line of stitches.

"...I told you you were badly injured," Stein said, his voice flat. "Don't move."

"I just want to sit up," Spirit argued. "Give me a hand here."

As he tried again, Stein's hand shot out to grab his shoulder, pushing him back down. "Senpai...please..."

Spirit looked up at him, irritated, but the frustration disappeared when he realized that Stein's hand was shaking slightly. Not enough to be seen, but just enough to feel. "Stein..."

"I could have killed you." The words came bluntly, almost harsh in tone, and Stein's hand tightened on Spirit's shoulder. His voice softened, however, to something barely audible in the next two sentences. "If you move too much, bone fragments might work loose. Don't."

Something in Stein's tone made Spirit reluctant to argue. He sighed softly and nodded. "Fine."

Stein nodded as well, letting go and going back to leaning against his chair. Neither man spoke for a minute until Stein broke the silence. "...Why didn't you fight back?"

Spirit eyed him for a moment. "I tried. You dodged."

"I remember seeing you withdraw your blades," Stein said, voice devoid of emotion. "You didn't even try to use them."

"...No."

"Why?"

Spirit didn't answer. It was one thing to say to himself that he hadn't wanted to hurt Stein, but a wholly other thing to actually tell the man himself. He settled for shrugging. "Got cocky, I suppose," he said. "Thought I wouldn't need them."

Stein just looked at him, expression unreadable.

Spirit sighed. Stein had always been one of the few people able to see right through him. "...I didn't want to," he muttered, looking away. It was really irritating, not actually being able to keep up a lie around Stein...

"I see..." Stein's voice betrayed nothing; it never did, Spirit thought irritably. Entirely too unfair.

Spirit said nothing, silently sulking over the fact that Stein was, and always had been, able to read him like a book.

"...You shouldn't be so careless, Senpai," Stein said after a moment. "You have a daughter to look after, after all."

Spirit glanced back up at him. He couldn't argue either point; he had been careless in not fighting back, and it would be irresponsible to leave Maka alone like that. It didn't mean he liked having it pointed out, though.

"If it happens again," Stein continued, his voice a serious monotone, but Spirit cut him off.

"It won't."

"Senpai." The word cut Spirit off before he could continue. Stein fixed him with a level gaze, eyes so expressionless as to be almost dead. "If it happens again, stop me."

Spirit's eyes widened slightly, catching on to what was being asked of him. "Stein, I-"

"What part of 'I could have killed you' do you not understand?" Stein snapped, though the emotion in his voice didn't quite reach his face. "You, of all people, know how dangerous I am like that."

"That doesn't mean...Stein, look, you're just scared," Spirit tried to calm his old partner down.

"It becomes...easier to slip, if I fall once," Stein told him, now distant. "Neither you nor I can allow that."

Spirit opened his mouth to speak, but something about the look Stein gave him kept him silent.

"...I...can't ask anyone else," the scientist said, voice little more than a whisper.

Spirit stared up at his former meister for a moment, unable to say a word. Stein was right; there wasn't really anyone else he could ask. Oh, there was Marie, sure, but...she didn't have the past that the two men did, the already-established connection to draw on. He sighed softly, then nodded. "Fine. But I won't have to."

Stein cocked his head back slightly, raising an eyebrow. "Cocky again so soon?" The humor in his voice was dry and twisted, a mockery of jest. "That's a record even for you, Senpai."

Spirit shook his head. "I'm not being cocky, for once. I believe it."

Stein rested his chin on his arms, folded on top of his chair, and just looked at him.

"I trust you."

Those three simple words had an immediate effect. Stein straightened up, looking away. Spirit studied what was visible of his expression. Anger? Guilt, maybe? "Senpai, I-"

"Could have. But you didn't." Spirit said, emphasizing the past tense. "You stopped. You heard me. That's all that matters."

Stein turned to stare at him, pale jade-green eyes widening slightly.

Spirit met his gaze, grey-blue eyes steady and unwavering. "I knew the risks when I stepped in. I knew it would be easier just to take you down and let you heal later. But I trusted you to be stronger than the madness. And you were. You still are.

"Senpai..."

"I trust you, Stein."

Stein sat in silence, the emotionless wall slowly melting away. Without that barrier, he looked almost vulnerable, even uncertain. "Spirit..."

Spirit just gave him a crooked smile. "And I'll be here," he said. "To catch you when you need it."

"Spirit...I..." Stein hesitated. Emotions had never come easily to him, Spirit knew from long experience. He held a private theory that it had some part in why madness came so easily to Stein, but he'd never mentioned it; if a man was unused to feeling something, then even the smallest sensation could be overwhelming. Spirit just shook his head as Stein continued searching for the words he wanted to say. They weren't needed. He might not be able to read Stein perfectly, but there were some things that he'd always understood.

_Thank you_ was one of them.


End file.
